


Shadow

by unfortunate17



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, veronica learns to love herself :), veronica/liam unrequited, ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:39:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfortunate17/pseuds/unfortunate17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Veronica lives in Zayn’s shadow. Liam makes her feel worthy - until he doesn’t anymore. (And maybe, she doesn’t need him.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Ziam fic by the way - I just have a lot of feeling about Veronica
> 
> For Noel.

Veronica Malik first met Liam Payne while One Direction was still a modest band on the X-factor and not selling out arenas around the world. None of them had cool clothes and Veronica herself was in a pair of sweats, listening to them practice harmonies. 

Liam makes a frustrated motion at his throat and the boys stop singing, voices dying off one by one. Zayn’s the last to stop, blinking sleepily at Liam as his voice drops off at the edge of his note.

"We’re awful," Liam says to all of them and Veronica chokes back laughter.

Zayn throws her a withering look as she giggles behind her back and gives Liam a concerned look, tongue between his teeth, “Then what do we do, Li?”

There’s a chorus of agreements around their little circle, Louis already distracted in trying to pull Harry’s beanie off his head as Niall pretends to be paying attention while secretly more invested in cheering on the bizarre tug-of-war that’s happening to his left. 

Veronica’s always thinks it was cute how Liam and Zayn stand up for each other so much - even if the rest of the boys are off being twats. Either way, she’s just glad Zayn’s found a friend in the band. 

Liam frowns, shrugging as he shoves back his straightened fringe off his forehead. Veronica saw Zayn straighten it actually, but Zayn’s threatened to kill her if she ever makes that information public. 

"Practice?"

Louis snorts, “Somebody give that boy a Nobel Prize for creativity.”

Liam flinches back and Zayn’s quick to throw an arm around his shoulders. He’s ridiculously protective, she’s noticed.

There’s a moment of silence as all the boys fall into thought (Louis putting on Harry’s beanie after snatching it from him.)

"Well," she stands up from her spot at the corner of the room, "considering how little you lot actually do that - I think Liam has the right idea."

Niall collapses into laughter even though Veronica is pretty damn sure no part of her last statement was funny. Harry is sort of nodding on, more invested in fixing Louis’ fringe in the beanie, and Zayn is drawing bored circles on the floor.

Liam on the other hand, shoots her a look, “Yeah - V’s right,” her stomach rushes with warmth at his smile, “We need to get to it lads.”

Zayn grumbles his agreement, the other boys not looking the least bit interested in what Liam or Veronica have to say. They’re quite the pair, Veronica thinks, more similar than Liam could probably imagine.

 Liam smiles at her sweetly again, pushing out from under Zayn’s arms, “You’re welcome to stay - you can give us pointers.”

"She doesn’t know how to sing, Li," Zayn mutters but Liam nudges him.

"She’s got ears hasn’t she? It’s good to have an outside opinion - her advice’ll be valuable."

The boys are not much better the second time around, but Veronica can’t stop smiling, Liam’s honeyed  _valuable_ rushing through her bloodstream.

_______

Their band doesn’t win X-factor and Veronica cries with them once they’re back stage, gripping onto each other’s shoulders. 

Zayn’s in Liam’s arm, face buried in his shoulder as his shoulders shake. Veronica’s never seen him cry in front of another living person and it warms her heart that Zayn’s found people he can finally trust.

Liam catches her eyes across the room and notices her tears, “Come here,” his voice cracks. Veronica steps forward to pat him on the shoulder, and instead gets pulled into the hug, Liam’s arm around her back and gripping her waist.

"You’ll be okay," she tells them. She doesn’t know which crying boy she’s talking to - maybe both. "You guys will make it, just you wait. And I’m always right."

Zayn shudders and Liam makes a soothing noise. He turns back to her and drops a kiss to her cheekbone, “Hope so,” he mumbles, so close that she can feel his hot breath run over her ear, “These boys deserve it.”

Veronica nudges him, “You do too,” she mutters furiously, “You deserve it too. Don’t make yourself less important than them.”

At her words Zayn’s looking up at Liam earnestly and Veronica feels a sick swoop in her stomach at Zayn’s expression. It makes her feel like she’s invading something deeply personal so she steps back, Liam’s arm dropping away from her and curling around Zayn’s neck as Zayn whispers furiously, forehead pushed against Liam’s.

_______

Her boys make it.

Make it in a way that Zayn, Veronica, Liam, their mums never thought they would. They sell out arenas around the world, play Madison Square Garden, and the Olympic stage. She sees Zayn’s face on every billboard, hair styled and dressed sharply, smirking at the camera with a new kind of confidence. 

Meanwhile, Veronica volunteers at the local hospital and paints.

When Tricia’s birthday comes around, Veronica gives her a painting of Venus that she’s worked on for three and a half months. 

Zayn calls from Japan and buys the entire family a house.

_______

One day, Veronica tweets a picture of a piece she’s half finished with. Her professor had told her that it was making great progress.  _Reminiscent of Van Gogh_ she’d told Veronica, posh London accent lilting her words.

She loses a three thousand followers overnight.

It’s not a huge thing though, because Veronica’s not too sure why she got the followers in the first place, and it’s all okay. Until she scrolls through her mentions.

The hate, at first, is overwhelming. 

There are girls - not even fifteen, sixteen years old - calling her a fame-whore for “marketing” her artwork by using her “Malik” name, people calling her _irrelevant_ , people talking about how much more talented  _Zayn_  is at art, racist, sexist comments about the size of her boobs and - 

She flinches, closes the window, and stares calmly at her spray-painted walls.

She wonders when Zayn’s success meant her downfall. 

_______

Veronica loves Zayn. 

Zayn who is kind and loud, Zayn who likes to take pointers on art work from her, giving her one-armed squeezes at the airport, cooking her and Tricia dinner, and making sure her bank-account is filled no matter how many times she claims she can take care of it. 

But Veronica’s lost Zayn to his job most of the time - and she’s okay with that. She’s perfectly okay with watching Zayn be massively successful, watching people finally appreciate Zayn for the incredible person he is, watching him and his boys rock different cities every night. In fact, it makes her incredibly happy. 

Zayn calls twice a week or any time he wants, because he claims the sound of his little sister’s voice makes him smile no matter what. Liam always manages to snag the phone, complaining to her about how late Zayn was to the photoshoot or interview.

When they get time off, she sees Zayn (who never leaves the house) and Liam, who drops by so frequently, Tricia jokes that he should just pack a bag and come over. The next time, Liam shows up with a bag slung over his shoulder and a sheepish smile as Tricia rolls her eyes and lets him in the house.

One time, he catches her in her room, painting. Zayn’s in the shower - so Liam probably has about half an hour to kill before he’s stolen back to do whatever man things Zayn wants to do. 

"Hey."

Veronica turns to face him and blushes. Liam’s changed a lot over the years - and the tank does nothing to hide it. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ears with paint-stained fingers, suddenly self-consious of her ratty sweats. She doesn’t think Liam cares, but she still wishes he’d catch her at her best rather than her worst.

She smiles, pausing the paint-brush, “You can come in, you know.”

"Oh," Liam flushes, "Oh - okay." He steps inside, looking at the huge portrait that takes up half the wall behind her bed. He points, "Who’s that?"

Veronica steps away from her work to slide in next to him, “Medusa.”

"From," Liam looks confused, "Which TV show?"

She laughs and Liam pouts at her. “She’s from Greek Mythology. Turns men into stone when they look at her.”

"Wow," Liam lets out a low-whistle, "And you painted that?"

"Yeah," she shrugs, knocking his shoulder with her own, "I’m not as busy as you guys are."

"It’s amazing," his eyes shift to the empty hallway and then flicker back to her, "Don’t tell Zayn, but you’re a better artist than him."

Veronica laughs, Liam grinning easily along with her, “No problem,” she smiles, “But he’s a better, more famous singer so it balances it out.”

Liam turns to face her and his eyes are incredibly wide and Veronica doesn’t know how Zayn manages to look at him without falling in love. “Doesn’t make him more important than you,” he says, reaching out to tug at her ponytail, “Remember - you deserve just as much as him. Both of you deserve the very best.”

She smiles, pushing his hand way. Sometimes it feels like there’s nobody on this planet that understands her more than Liam James Payne, “Course.” 

“ _Leeyum. Where’d ya go?”_

Liam’s eyes crinkle and he shakes his head at the voice, “I best be going back there - Zayn’ll have my head otherwise.”

Veronica laughs, shoving him, “Leave then. ‘m busy.”

Liam winks at her before he’s out the door, “I’ll be back, don’t worry, babe.”

She throws a paint brush at him for it, but Liam’s already laughing, ducking away, back towards Zayn. 

_______

Liam kisses her once.

He’s smashed off his face, upset, and mumbling about  _Zayn_  and  _fight_  and  _stupid_ , so she knows it doesn’t mean anything.

But Liam’s got a warm embrace, strong arms, and a full lower lip that have Veronica’s knees shaking. He presses into her when she goes to drop him off at his flat, shutting the door so she can’t leave, and mouthing down her neck, muttering about how beautiful she is.

And she.

Just.

Doesn’t know what to do.

He tastes like Tequila shots and lime, one hand - big and hot - rucking up her dress, while the other tangles in her hair.

Veronica takes a risk - a huge, fucking stupid one when she looks back on it - and fits herself forward, pressing her lips to his and licking into his mouth. 

Liam’s moan travels down through her chest and it’s undeniable what he’s saying, tone reverent and filled with love. 

_Zayn. Zayn. ZaynZaynZaynZaynZaynZayn_

_________

Liam apologizes to her privately the next day when she goes down to the studio to drop Zayn’s lunch off at Tricia’s request.

It’s their lunch break and Liam drags her into an empty room that’s filled with old, sound equipment as he looks at her with pleading eyes, telling her how fucking sorry he was about what happened and how much he regretted it.

Veronica lets out a breath, shaking her head, “It’s okay. We just kissed - nothing serious. You were drunk and I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s fine.”

Liam must be able to see the lie in her face, read the way her eyes hurt with ever glance at him, feel the way she looks like pain and heartbreak covered in cheap, wall-paper, because he steps forward and wraps her in a hug.

And Veronica knows he’s trying to make her feel better, trying to come off as the brother’s-best-friend-and-maybe-boyfriend that he is, but it only makes it worse. 

And Liam  _knows._ She knows that he knows.

"I told Zayn," he mutters into her hair, "I told him that it was a mistake and that I only kissed you because you remind me so much of him and. Veronica. V. I love your brother so much. So much that I don’t know how I can possibly feel anything else sometimes, you know. Zayn means the world to me and I would do anything - anything - for him to be happy. I’m sorry for - for everything. I fucked up."

" ‘s okay," She smiles, tears filling her eyes, "I know you love him. He loves you too."

She’s glad, really, that Zayn’s finally found so much happiness in someone. She’s so happy that he’s happy. She really is - wants nothing but the best for Zayn.

Liam squeezes her one last time, pulling back and looking at her worriedly, “Are we good, then?”

"Yeah," she smiles, "yeah, we’re good. Don’t worry about me," her voice gets very small, "I just needs some time, yeah."

"Okay," Liam breathes in relief, "I don’t want to lose you - we’re. We’re good friends, V. Best friends, even - different than the lads, but still best friends."

"Yeah," she says again because she’s a fucking idiot. 

He ruffles her hair, “I best be off then, Zayn’s probably looking for me.”

"Okay," she twists her hands together, "Bye, Liam." 

Liam’s just getting to the door when she calls him back, “Hey,” her voice is loud, clear, “if you hurt my brother, I’ll rip your balls off.”

His eyes crinkle, cheeks pushing up as he salutes. 

The door bangs closed behind him.

_________

Zayn finds her that night, curled into her bed, staring blankly at the wall with all the lights off, the only brightness spilling into her room coming from the hallway lamp. It’s his last night at home and he knocks her open door twice before sliding inside.

He nudges her until she turns over in the bed, muttering, “Budge up, yeah.” He presses into the space next to her and they both lie there, brother and sister, on their backs, staring at the glow in the dark milky way Veronica had copied out of her science text-book. 

"You finished it," Zayn says quietly and he sounds cautious. 

"Yeah," she says. 

They’re silent for a long time before she clears her throat, kicking at his legs, “I’ll miss you,” she says, voice cracking, “you know, when you’re on tour and stuff. Hope you have fun though.”

Zayn laughs, but his voice is strained, “I’ll miss your cookies. Just don’t taste as good when Liam makes ‘em.”

She wonders when conversation between them became so awkward, when the distance became this physical, when the hide-and-seek and close brother-sister gave way to near strangers. 

"V," Zayn sounds pained, "I never meant to. I mean - with Liam. I didn’t know you felt that way."

"He loves you," she points out, "And I just want you to be happy. I’ve always wanted you to be happy."

"I know," Zayn whispers back and she feels seven again, "But I want you to be happy too. If -" he hesitates, "if you want me to stop seeing him, then I will you know, because -"

"No," she sits up, "no no no, you’re so happy with Liam. I don’t - you deserve that, Zayn. I’m honestly happy for you. I’m so happy for you and everything you’ve achieved, Liam included."

Zayn grips her wrist, sitting up so their shoulders are pressing. She’s suddenly struck with how much older than her Zayn sounds, even though he’s really only older by four minutes, “Next time you have an art show - let me know. And I’ll come down and see it myself. I - I’m proud of you, you know. And so is mum. The world doesn’t have to know your name for you to be happy.”

And then there are tears trickling down her cheeks and her shoulders shake. Zayn pretends like he doesn’t notice, which Veronica is infinitely grateful for.

Zayn laughs then, loud in the dark room, “Couldn’t do it without you telling me I can.” He pauses and she can almost hear the gears turning in his head, “But I’m never saying any of that again, so I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing it.”

Veronica rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. She shoves him, cursing, and falls back into the bed. Zayn lays down next to her the way he used to when she had a nightmare, insisting that he was the big brother while Tricia smiled at them and Veronica complained that he was hogging her bed.

"Okay?" Zayn says.

And Veronica smiles into the dark, into nothing, into the comfort of her home and her family and her brother, “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> That made me cry. Fuck. The last scene with Zayn and Veronica as brother and sister was so hard to write I couldn’t see through my tears lol I’m stupid and emotional ignore me. Family stuff really gets to me :(


End file.
